


We Make Our Own Luck

by tideisrising



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:02:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22812028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tideisrising/pseuds/tideisrising
Summary: My own take on the soulmate-statue tropeThis is not canon compliant, but it is much closer to canon than any other stories I’ve seen based on this prompt. Kara becomes Supergirl much earlier than canon, and is turned into a statue several years before the events of the show. Eventually, she is awoken by a very surprised Lena Luthor.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 18
Kudos: 231





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbetad and barely edited so apologies in advance if reading this feels like a punishment for your sins.

Kara frowned, looking down at the villain standing in the middle of the field. She didn’t know what Zatanna was doing, and a quick glace over at Clark’s confused expression told her he didn’t either. The magical villain had been a thorn in their side for months, usually disappearing with an impish grin before they had a chance to confront her. But now she was just standing there calmly, hands at her sides, aiming that same grin up at the Kryptonians floating above her.

It didn’t sit right.

She murmured as much to Clark, and he shrugged and shook his head, diving down to land in front of the woman. She sighed, and followed. She was technically older than him, but he insisted on diving headlong into danger regardless of what she said.

She supposed it was easier to feel invincible when you hadn’t watched your entire planet blow up.

She landed a few yards behind Clark, eyeing Zatanna warily. He had landed just in front of her, hands out and open as he requested a friendly conversation. Zatanna nodded to him distractedly, but her focus was clearly on Kara. One of Clark’s gestures took him too close to her, and his hand bounced off of the silvery sheen of one of the woman’s protective magic bubbles. He shook the zapped hand, frowning briefly, before setting his face back into a characteristic friendly expression and continuing his Very Superman speech about doing the right thing.

Zatanna obviously wasn’t listening. She smirked, slightly, and made a new gesture with her hands, sending Kara a wink as she did. This wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right. They were doing exactly what she wanted and it wasn’t right. Kara shifted her weight to speed towards the villain - to do exactly what, she wasn’t sure - but she had only moved a few steps when the woman finished her spell and swept her hand towards Kara and then -

Kara’s knees went out from under her. Oh, she didn’t feel good. Her throat was dry, her head was spinning, and every single part of her body felt stiff.

She didn’t hit the ground, though. She was being held up by someone? Someone who was staggering a bit under her weight. They were very warm.

The sun was bright on her dry eyes. She blinked, trying to orient herself and catching the tail end of a yell.

“- THE HECK AWAY FROM MY COUSIN!”A familiar voice. Familiar male voice. Just the sound of it soothed her. She made a move to reach towards the source of it, but her limbs felt strange and heavy and they didn’t seem to want to obey her.

“Whoa, it’s all right.” The person holding her up was speaking softly to her, her voice soothing and melodious. Kara loved it immediately. “I’ve got you. You’re all right.”

Kara blinked, swallowing against the sandpaper in her throat, and nodded slightly. She wanted to talk, to ask what was going on, but she was still dizzy and disoriented and wasn’t quite sure she could get the words out.

The woman holding her straightened up, and Kara felt her chest heave beneath her head as she switched to calling out in that same voice, but this time with a calm authoritative air.

“Your cousin is fine. I would like to give her to you, but I want you to calm down first.”

Cousin. Cousin! That was the voice! Kal-el!

Kara tried to call out to him, but dissolved into a fit of chest-wrenching coughs when she took in a deep breath, her body spasming against the woman holding her up. She felt the woman stagger, and then she was slowly being lowered towards the ground. The woman kneeled behind her and pulled Kara’s upper body so her torso was propped up against the woman’s thighs and abdomen.

“It’s all right. You don’t have to talk.” The woman murmured soothingly, rubbing a hand in circles on Kara’s back as she tried to hack up a lung. “I can’t even imagine what you’re feeling, but it’s all right. You’re safe. Just take it easy.”

Kara finally finished coughing for long enough to draw in a shuddering breath. She tilted her head back and finally looked up and took in the woman. She was unfamiliar, but gosh, she was gorgeous. “Wow, you’re beautiful.” rasped out of her before she had a chance to catch herself. She blinked. Whatever happened must have made her loopy. She usually had a much better filter than that.

She saw the faintest blush on the woman’s cheeks, but she only raised an eyebrow and said. “You’re not so bad yourself,” amusement coloring her voice.

“Don’t _touch_ her, Luthor.” Kal-el’s enraged voice was closer now, off to Kara’s left. She twisted slightly to see him standing a few yards away, fists tightly clenched and the burn of heat vision simmering behind his eyes. He was leaning forward on the balls of his feet, as if preparing to charge.

Luthor? Lex did this? That didn’t seem right, for some reason. And why was Clark glaring at this nice pretty woman who kept her from falling?

She felt the woman behind her heave a sigh. “Superman. I am not hurting her. I have no intention of hurting her. If you would _please_ calm down and stop looking at me like you’re planning to set me on fire I would be happy to drop the nano-shield and give her to you.”

Nano-what? Honestly, what in Rao’s name was going on?

She rolled slightly towards Clark, head spinning. “Kal?” she managed to mumble-rasp at him. He could explain things, at least.

The murderous expression on his face instantly dropped into one of overbearing concern, and he raced forward, pressing himself against some kind of invisible barrier several feet away. “Kara?” his previously furious voice was now wavering wetly. “Kara? Are you okay?”

Something about that was wrong. He wasn’t supposed to call her that, for some reason. She tried to sit up, and felt the woman at her back pushing to help her. She hacked a dry cough, looking up at him blearly. “My head hurts.”

“I need to get you to the fortress.” He said, urgently. “Get you checked out.”

“I -” She squeezed her eyes shut, the bright sunlight hurting them in a way it hadn’t since she’d last been on Krypton. “What happened?”

“Zatanna happened.” Clark replied, darkly.

“Zatanna...” Right. She had been going towards Zatanna. She had been going towards Zatanna because something wasn’t right. Whatever she was doing must have worked, if it had managed to hurt her this badly.

But who was this woman behind her, what did Lex Luthor have to do with anything, and why in Rao’s name was Kal-el so angry at her? She didn’t think she’d seen him look that furiously at anyone before.

She pressed a hand to the concrete beneath her and managed to push herself a little more upright. “Where am I? What’s -” She turned to the pale, dark-haired woman still supporting her efforts. “Who are you?”

The woman smiled slightly, something a little bit sad in her eyes. “I’m Lena. Nice to meet you.”

“Lena _Luthor_ ,” Clark snarled from behind her.

Oh.

Kara squinted against the muffled feeling in her head. Right. Lex had a sister. A younger sister who was away at boarding school? She had never caused any trouble and she was really just a kid and so they’d never really had any reason to deal with her before. Lena looked too old to be Lex’s teenage sister, though.

“I am not my brother.” Lena replied, her eyes flashing. Her expression turned cold as she turned her head to face Clark. “I came here to protect your cousin, doesn’t that count for anything?”

“I don’t know _why_ you came here.” Clark snarled.

“Well, regardless, here she is, and I’d like you to have her so you can get her the help she needs.” Lena replied, primly.

Clark took an aggressive step towards her rescuer, and Kara frowned, feeling suddenly protective. Lena wasn’t doing anything bad, as far as she could tell. She certainly wasn’t hurting her. “Kal.” She called plaintively. “It’s fine. She’s not hurting me.”

Lena glanced at her, looking briefly startled, before returning to look at Clark, her expression steely. “See? She’s fine. I’d be happy to drop the shield if you’d stop giving me reason to believe it would put my life in danger.”

 _Life_ in danger? Kal would never hurt anyone. With every second that passed, Kara was getting more and more bewildered. “What is _happening?”_ Kara rasped out, distress and confusion evident in her voice.

Lena turned to her, expression softening. “Kara, is it?”

Wait, was she Kara right now? She glanced down, taking in her Supergirl regalia. Oh. Right. That was why Clark wasn’t supposed to call her that.

Well the cat was out of the bag now, so she just swallowed and nodded. She really hoped her instincts were right about this woman not being a threat, because she’d just been handed half her secret identity on a silver platter.

“Kara, you’ve been, well, unconscious for quite some time. It may take a while to get you caught up.” Her tone was kind, and her expression sympathetic. Oh. That explained a few things, she supposed. Although it didn’t explain why she woke up on some kind of stone dais or why Lex Luthor’s little sister was here looking at least twenty-five.

Wait.

“Umm, how long?” Her voice trembled a little bit. She hoped that what she was thinking was wrong.

“Seven years.” Lena replied, apologetically, hand moving in soothing circles against her upper back at the wide-eyed expression on Kara’s face.

“Seven...” She whispered, staring at Lena for a second before whirling her head to Clark, ignoring the way it made her head spin. “Kal! Seven _years?_ ”

Clark’s face crumpled, and he leaned forward against his hand on the barrier. He nodded mournfully. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t protect you.”

She just stared. Seven years? _Seven years?_ What about her school, and her friends, and oh god what about _Alex_ and the rest of the Danvers? Seven years?

“Seven years?” She repeated, numbly. There was no way, it couldn’t be.

Alex must be out of her mind.

Suddenly, she needed her sister more than anything else in the world. She looked up at her cousin. “I need to see Alex.”

Clark nodded, slipping from his morose expression back into his Superman persona. “Okay, but first we need to go to the fortress and get you checked out.”

“I don’t care about the fortress. Take me to Alex!” Her eyes were getting hot and itchy and she didn’t want to cry, dammit, but she had apparently missed _seven years_ and all she wanted was her sister.

Lena’s hand had stilled, but she felt her resume the soothing circles on her back and she felt herself automatically leaning into it. It did help, a little bit.

“Do not _touch_ her!” Clark snarled. Kara would have been scared, if she were a human and Superman was snarling like that, but Lena just watched him calmly.

Kara felt a powerful frustration welling up in her chest. This wasn’t important. She wanted to hug her sister. Clark probably had good reasons for being angry but right then she couldn’t have cared less about them if she tried. “Clark! Stop threatening her so we can go find Alex!”

Clark stiffened and she realized her mistake a moment too late. He cleared his throat and regarded her smoothly. “I think you must be confused.”

“I -” She glanced at Lena, who had an eyebrow raised and was eyeing Clark curiously. Shoot. There was no way she was buying that. Still, she might as well play along. “Yeah, sorry, I’m addled right now. I was thinking of someone else.”

Lena’s eyebrow raised higher and the corner of her mouth quirked upward amusedly. She looked like she wanted to respond somehow, but, mercifully, she stayed silent.

Whatever, she could deal with that later. She turned back to her cousin. “Okay, _Kal_ , can we go please?”

Clark nodded stiffly, still eyeing Lena apprehensively. “Miss Luthor, I apologize. I’ll just take my cousin and go.” He didn’t sound happy about it, but apparently he didn’t have to.

“Okay.” Lena said, suddenly all business. “Supergirl, I’m just going to lay you down on the cement here and step away, if that’s all right.”

Kara really wanted to stand on her own but Lena was probably right that she couldn’t do it by herself right now. She nodded, relieved, and let Lena place her gently on the concrete. She closed her eyes against the glare of the bright sunlight above her as she felt Lena take a few steps away. There were a few rapid beeps and suddenly strong arms were scooping her up and she felt wind on her face. She squinted her eyes open and peered up at Kal, whose face was set in a grim line as he looked straight ahead.

He was holding her in a bridal carry, which felt a little weird, but that was hardly the biggest concern right then.

She frowned when she realized they were going due north. “Clark, I want to see Alex.” She insisted, knowing he could hear her over the rushing wind.

He pressed his lips tighter together. “Soon.” He said, firmly.

She glared. “Clark Joseph Kent, if you don’t take me to my sister _right_ now-”

“You died!” He exploded, stopping in midair and holding her tightly to his chest. “For all intents and purposes you were dead for seven years and I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to get you back! I am taking you to the fortress and that’s final.”

Kara breathed heavily, staring up at him as the words sank in. He had been mourning her, and she still didn’t even know what had happened to her. She could go to the fortress. “Okay.” she replied, simply.

Clark nodded sharply and sped off, due north.

\---

She was fine, or at least the fortress thought so. She was weak, and stiff, but her ability to absorb solar radiation was intact and it seemed like it was nothing a few days of rest in the sun and a lot of food and water wouldn’t fix.

Clark had calmed down by the time they got to the fortress. Flying had always been a great way for them to clear their heads. After everything checked out, he took a deep breath and sat down to explain to her exactly what had happened.

“You remember Zatanna standing in that field?” He questioned.

Kara nodded.

“You were right.” He continued grimly. “It was a trap. She cast a spell on you to turn you into stone. A literal statue.”

Kara laughed, but his grim expression sobered her quickly. “You’re joking, right?”

He shook his head slowly. “No. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it was magic. I’ve never been good at figuring out how that stuff works.”

Kara just stared. “I’ve been a _statue_ for seven years?”

He nodded. “Yeah. We’ve been trying to turn you back the whole time, but like I said - magic.” He threw his hands up in the air helplessly.

“So why am I back?” she questioned, curiously.

Anger passed over Clark’s face in a flash. “I think Lena Luthor did it.” he gritted out.

“But.” Kara scooted forward on her crystal bed, legs dangling off the edge. “Then why are you so angry with her?”

Clark ran a hand over his face. “Zatanna said there was a... condition that would bring you back. I think she wants us to think she filled that condition.”

“Condition?” He wasn’t making sense again. If there was some easy way to bring her back why had she been stuck as a statue for seven years? “What condition?”

“A very hard one to fill.” He replied, slowly.

“Which is...” She gestured for him to continue.

“I-” He growled under his breath. “It’s all over the internet anyway, you would find out eventually. She said you had to be touched by your soulmate.”

Kara laughed, abruptly. “My what?”

“Your soulmate. A one true love. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but we tried everything. That’s why we had you in the park, so people could come try their luck. Just in case it was true.”

That was downright surreal. She was a statue in a park and people came up and touched her to see if they were her soulmate? How sure was she that she wasn’t dreaming?

It was so ridiculous that she was having trouble suppressing her giggles as she continued. “And Lena touched me and then I woke up?”

Clark sneered. “I think Lena _Luthor_ found some way to do it technologically. She’s a genius, apparently. But she wants us to think she’s your soulmate.”

Kara was holding her sides at this point, feet kicking out off the edge of the bed as tears of mirth threatened behind her eyes. “Lena Luthor is my fake soulmate?”

“It’s not funny, Kar.” Clark snapped. “She’s a real threat. And she knows our first names now.”

Kara sobered quickly. “Is she working with Lex?”

“No.” Clark looked down and then away at the walls of the fortress. “Lex is dead.”

“Oh.” Yeah, nothing about this was funny at all anymore. “Is that why she thought you might kill her?”

Clark nodded slowly, painfully. “I didn’t kill him. His own bombs did that, but there are those that think I did.”

“Why would they think that?” What could possibly have happened to make anyone believe her kind-hearted cousin could kill?

He sighed. “After what happened to you I got a little... harsh, with the criminal population. I never killed anybody, but certain people had good reason to be afraid.” At the look on her face he hastily added. “I’m not proud of it. It was a dark time in my life and one of my greatest shames. Lex died just before I was able to get to him. I was investigated and cleared, but the rumors never went away.”

Kara chewed her lip. It was a lot of process. She couldn’t imagine her cousin hurting anybody and she really didn’t want to try. He was younger than her, but she had always kind of looked up to him anyway, at least after landing on earth. “He set off bombs?” she asked, instead.

Clark nodded again, slowly. “Yeah. It was supposed to be a trap for me, but he didn’t get out in time and one of his goons swapped the kryptonite for something else. He set them off at an elementary school. He killed two hundred and forty-three children.”

Kara blanched. “Oh Rao.” she whispered. That scale of death, death of _children_ , was unfathomable to her. How could anyone do that? She knew Lex was bad, evil even, but even he couldn’t have meant to - that many children -

She reeled, and the next thought through her brain popped right out of her mouth. “Was Lena in on it?” It would certainly explain some things, but the idea of the woman she met earlier being involved in something so evil left an awful taste in her mouth. She didn’t know why, but she felt strangely sure Lena was good.

“No. She was still in Europe at the time.” Clark replied. “But she’s just like him, I can feel it. I just think she’s smarter about it. She’s built up this philanthropic image so no one will believe me, but please, please be careful with her.”

Kara nodded, relief flowing through her chest. She told herself she was just glad there was no one evil enough to do such a thing still alive, but in truth she just felt good about the woman. Maybe because she was the first person Kara saw when she woke up, and she had been kind and careful with her. She would be upset, she thought, if that kind woman wasn’t real.

“Has she hurt anyone?” was the next question to pop out of her mouth. She could tell from Clark’s face that he didn’t like it.

“Not that I can prove.” He replied, rushing on to his next sentence “But someone has been running around quietly kidnapping aliens with some of Lex’s old tech. I just have to catch her in the act.”

Kara looked up at the crystalline ceiling, pondering. If Clark hadn’t caught this person maybe it wasn’t her. If now that she was back maybe she could help him.

“Don’t do that.” He interrupted her thoughts. “I can see you giving her the benefit of the doubt. That was what got me into trouble with Lex. Don’t end up with blood on your hands like it’s all over mine.”

She looked at him in shock. “What Lex did is not your fault.”

Clark’s eyes went hard, and for the first time she realized the haunted look behind them wasn’t just his worry for her. “It was to get to me, and I failed to stop him. It is.”

“No, Cl-”

“I don’t want to talk about it!” He uncharacteristically snapped, standing up. She reeled back, eyes wide. “Let’s just get you to Alex so you two can catch up.”

Kara opened her mouth to argue but clicked it back shut at the resolute look on his face. They would have to talk about this later. And she did really want to see her sister.

\---

Alex looked older, but she was still the same sister Kara remembered. First she gaped at Kara, like she was staring at a ghost, and then she launched herself into Kara’s arms, crying and holding her and insisting she was never, ever allowed to go away again. That finally did Kara in, and she started crying too, blubbering about being so afraid and missing Alex _so much_ even though she wasn’t even conscious the whole time, and it was hours before both of them had calmed down enough to sit on Alex’s couch and just talk things over.

Alex filled her in on a lot of what she had missed. Her friends were gone, of course, and her apartment that she had rented near Clark’s in Metropolis for the times she needed to stay there to help him with something. Her Kara Danvers persona had “gone abroad” seven years ago and was supposed to be living in Malaysia. They hadn’t wanted to declare her dead, not as long as there was still hope she could someday come back. Her college had academically withdrawn her very quickly, so getting a degree now would be a pain.

Her entire life, save for Clark and the Danvers, was gone. But that was a lot to still have, she thought, as she hugged Alex as tight as she dared. Alex insisted that she live with her in her apartment until she got back on her feet. Kara could tell she was really desperate to keep her close, and well, that was fine with her.

They finally went the sleep, with Alex _insisting_ she should take the couch so Kara could have the bed, and Kara woke up the next day feeling wonderfully well-rested.

She still wasn’t well enough to go help Clark with his alien kidnapping problem, which frustrated her, but she was at least well enough to go for a walk and see how much things had changed, and maybe grab a pizza or five. She could even hover a little bit, if she really concentrated.

She had planned to go alone, but Alex had staunchly refused to let her out of her sight. After trying to convince her it would be better to stay home for at least a day, her sister finally relented and agreed to go out with her for what she stressed would be a _short_ walk. She led Kara around the neighborhood while she peered around curiously. Some things were different, different stores and such, and the phones were smaller, but for the most part, National City was the same as she remembered it.

She and Alex headed downtown and got some pizza at a parlor Kara had liked before she got, well, turned to stone. It was weird to think about it that way. She almost wanted to just call it a coma or something.

Afterwards, Alex took them home, and she and Clark filled Kara in on more current events and changes that had happened over the last several years. Clark and Alex exchanged glances when she asked about the alien kidnapping, and refused to give her any details about it.

The rest of the week was more of the same. Alex took the week off of work (she worked at the DEO now!) and hovered worriedly over everything Kara was doing. It was annoying, but Kara knew her sister had been through the ringer, and so she indulged her, for a while.

It was a full five days before Alex let her go for a walk alone. She tried to come with her again, but Kara insisted she needed a little alone time. And she wasn’t lying. Everything she’d learned had been overwhelming, and she just needed some time to process it all, in her own head and without any interference. Plus Alex was starting to get a little smothering, and she needed a break if she wanted to still love her sister in the morning.

She went for a walk around downtown. It was the same blend of the same and different as her immediate neighborhood, and she wandered aimlessly for a while, lost in her thoughts. She eventually found herself standing in front of an enormous building near the center of the city, staring up at the giant “L” on the side of LCorp’s National City office.

Alex had agreed with Clark about Lena Luthor, insisting she was up to no good and Kara shouldn’t go anywhere near her. Kara knew she should believe her sister and cousin, knew she had missed a lot and didn’t even know who Lena was, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling that they were wrong about her.

She wanted to talk to the woman again. But she couldn’t go in there as Kara without blowing what was left of her cover and she wasn’t well enough yet to be landing on balconies as Supergirl. She stood in front of the main doors of the building, staring up at the glass walls and contemplating, until the sun started to go down.

She was still lost in thought when the woman herself burst out through the front doors. Her eyes skipped over Kara indifferently, and she moved to walk past her.

Kara didn’t know what came over her, but she just couldn’t let the woman walk by without saying hello. She reached out towards her. “Excuse me, m-”

A security guard she hadn’t even seen was on her in a flash, and it took a split second too long for her to let her body move with the force of him slamming her against the building wall. She hated it when humans surprised her like that. If he was startled by her strength, he didn’t show it, his face passive as he held her against the concrete.

Lena had stopped, and was regarding her severely. “Can I help you with something?”

“S-sorry.” Kara stuttered, hating the way she could feel her cheeks heating up. “I, um, I didn’t mean to - I - My name is Kara.” she finally blurted out, hoping Lena would get the message.

Lena eyed her contemplatively. “You’re an associate of Clark Kent’s, correct?”

So she had figured it out. Clark was going to kill her. She nodded, mutely.

“It’s all right, Richard. You can let her go.” She addressed the security guard, who promptly dropped Kara and stood back. “Change of plans. I will be heading back into the office to have a meeting with Miss... Kara. Please wait for me in your office.”

The large man nodded. “Very good, Miss Luthor.”

Lena gestured to Kara, and she followed the woman back inside the building, tugging her shirt back into place and brushing the bits of grit from the wall off of it. That was stupid, that was really really stupid. She wasn’t sure why she did that, but both Alex and Clark were going to murder her in her sleep when they found out. She had as good as given her last name to their mortal enemy.

She followed Lena through the building and into a private elevator, staring at the high ceilings and marble columns in the lobby. Gosh, she was rich. Of course she was rich, she was a Luthor, but still.

Once they got into the elevator, she tried to study the woman more properly without being noticed. Her initial, delirious impression of the woman being beautiful was correct. She had pale skin, dark hair, and a jawline that made Kara weak in the knees. Clark would kill her for that too, she mused.

Just as the elevator dinged for the final floor, Lena turned and gave her a wink. She knew Kara had been staring. Of course she knew, she was a freaking genius apparently. Kara’s chest fluttered at the playful gesture, and she tried not to blush too hard as the followed the woman through an ornate lobby and past a severe-looking receptionist who eyed her distastefully. Lena nodded to the woman and wordlessly lead Kara through the door into what must have been her office. It was all white, with floor-to-ceiling windows leading out onto a balcony - Kara tried to silence her inner joy at this woman having a convenient balcony - a curved, white desk, and a cream-colored couch.

Lena gestured to the two chairs opposite her desk and Kara took a nervous seat. She wasn’t sure why she was here, really, she had just felt a powerful need to talk to the woman. Lena sat down in her (very nice-looking) chair behind her desk and leaned back.

There was a beat of silence where Kara opened and closed her mouth a few times, searching for something appropriate to say. Lena was watching her with increasing amusement, which made Kara’s cheeks burn and her words even harder to come by. She was Supergirl, dammit, why was she being so useless?

Finally, Lena took pity on her. “I’m glad to see you out and about, Supergirl.”

“Thank you!” Kara replied, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “And, I, um, I hear I have you to thank for that?”

Lena smiled. “Honestly waking you up wasn’t my intention or even on my mind as a possibility. I just happened to touch you while intervening to keep you from being destroyed.”

“Whoa, what?” That sounded really different from what everyone else had told her about the other day. “Someone was trying to, um, kill me?”

Lena’s brow wrinkled slightly. “Nobody told you that? My instruments picked up an explosive projectile headed towards your location. I assume they thought concrete was weaker than steel and it would be better to ensure you were never able to wake up.”

“Oh.” Kara’s mind was whirling. Nobody had mentioned anything like that at all. She would have to ask Clark about it later.

“I assume Superman noticed the same thing, and that’s why he was there.” Lena continued.

“Oh yeah. I, uh, I guess...” She muttered, staring at one of the enormous windows behind the other woman. “Is that why you had that shield thing?”

“Yes. It was the most reliable way to ensure you wouldn’t be hurt.” Lena replied, matter-of-factly.

Kara refocused on her face. “Why?”

The woman’s face was calm, but Kara could hear an increase in her heart rate. She was scared or upset by that question. “I don’t know what your cousin has told you, but I am not like my brother. I am thankful every day that Superman was able to bring him down. The casualties would have continued until he was stopped.”

Kara blinked. She thought Clark had killed her brother and she was _happy_ about it? “Um, Kal told me he didn’t kill him.” she said, quietly.

Lena inclined her head, neutrally acknowledging Kara’s statement. “As I would expect. Still, we are all better off with him gone.”

The mess of her heartbeat made Kara doubt the sincerity of that, but she found the thought soothing, more than anything else. It would be worrisome, if Lena really were this calm about the death of her own brother. She decided to change the subject. “So, um, you were there just to help me?”

“Of course. We are all better off in a world with the two of you in it.” She replied, simply. It sounded practiced, like a speech given at a podium, but Kara could also hear sincerity behind those words.

“Oh.” She replied, just starting at the woman dumbly. “So you just, um, touched me and...”

“And there you were.” Lena finished, waving a hand. She paused, looking thoughtful, and then continued. “I assume your cousin told you about the supposed terms of the spell cast on you?”

“Uhh,” Kara looked down at her lap, adjusting her glasses nervously. “Yeah.”

“And based on that, that would imply...” Kara looked up to see Lena waving a hand between the two of them. She nodded sharply.

“If that makes you uncomfortable I completely understand.” The woman says, the practiced edge filtering out of her voice, leaving just that soft concern that Kara remembered from the day before.

She tried to ignore the swoop in her stomach as she giggled nervously. “It, uh, it doesn’t, really. But it might make my cousin uncomfortable.”

“Well.” Lena said with a sly smile. “It’s a good thing I’m not magically tied to him then, isn’t it.”

Kara's giggle shifted into genuine laughter. She _liked_ this woman. She had a really good gut feeling about her too, and her instincts were usually pretty reliable. “I honestly have no idea what’s even going on. Soulmates aren’t something we ever even thought about on Krypton. Half of this feels like I’m asleep and dreaming.”

Lena was watching her with a twinkle in her eye. “I can’t say I’ve ever believed in them myself. It seems much more likely to me that Zatanna chose a specific target for her spell just to mess with you two.”

Kara’s smile dropped a little, and Lena picked up on it embarrassingly quickly, leaning forward to put her elbows on her desk. “Although I can’t say I would be opposed to finding out I’m wrong.”

“Oh!” and now the giggling was back and Kara couldn’t stop smiling and honestly what was wrong with her. “I’m - oh - I mean - if you -” Rao help her.

Lena’s smile shifted slowly into a full, satisfied grin. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

Kara hid her face in her hands. “I swear I’m usually less embarrassing than this.” she mumbled through her fingers.

“Nothing embarrassing about it at all. It’s very endearing.”

She sounded like she meant it, and Kara peeked through her fingers to view a wide smile and an affectionate look directed towards her. She didn’t even know how to respond. “Umm.”

Lena leaned back in her chair, looking very pleased with herself. “How about this, Kara from Krypton. Soulmates may or may not be real, but I like you. Would you like to get dinner with me tomorrow night so we can get to know each other a little better?”

Oh gosh. Was Lena Luthor asking her out? Kara pulled her head out of her hands and nodded an enthusiastic yes before she even had a second to think about it. Alex was gonna flip. Clark was gonna flip. But she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Wonderful. Is there any restaurant in particular that you like?”

“Oh, um, it’s been a while actually so I’m not sure-”

“Oh of course.” Lena interjected. “I apologize for bringing that up. Shall I just pick a place, then? Do you like italian?”

“Who doesn’t like italian?” Kara answered, relieved.

“How’s 8pm for you?”

“Uhm, great. Great, no other plans then. Good.”

Lena’s expression shifted from smug to sympathetic. “I am sorry for what happened to you. And if this is too much too fast when you’ve only been awake for less than a week then by all means we can get to know each other some other time.”

“No!” Kara was surprised by how much she didn’t like that idea. She wanted to see Lena again as soon as possible.

Lena seemed to pick up on it, as her smile slowly returned. “All right then. Just a casual outing. Don’t feel any pressure at all. We would make great friends, if that’s what you’d like.”

Kara smiled at her and nodded. She really was very sweet. It was ridiculous how much she liked this woman already.

“So.” Lena drawled out slowly. “Where should I pick you up?”

“Oh.” Kara hadn’t thought about that. Alex would have a fit if Lena Luthor came to her apartment. “I can just meet you here at 7:30?”

Lena nodded. If she was disappointed about not getting an address, she didn’t show it. “Is there a number where I can reach you in case I have to reschedule?”

Kara thought for a moment and then pulled out the brand new cellphone Alex had given her, and looked up the new number she hadn’t memorized yet. “Do you have a pen and paper?” she queried.

Lena handed her a notepad and she quickly scribbled the number down. “And, um, if you wanted to just, t-talk or something you could also maybe call me for that too?”

It came out like a question, but Kara didn’t feel nearly as awkward as she probably should have when Lena gave a wide smile in response.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate the comments! I probably won't respond individually to most of them because I'm a weirdo introvert and it takes a lot out of me, but I am reading and enjoying them!
> 
> Not betad, etc etc. Forgive me my awkward phrasing and grammatical sins. I'm experimenting with just putting stuff out there instead of obsessing about making it perfect.

She returned home to find Alex sitting on the couch watching the news. The way her sister jumped up with wide eyes and a relieved “Kara!” caused a twist in the pit of her stomach. Maybe she shouldn’t have stayed out all day. She hugged Alex as tight as she dared, and thanked her for giving her a whole day to wander the city and process alone.

Lena’s face on the television drew her attention, and she dragged Alex back down to the couch so she could watch. Alex moved to change the channel, but Kara stopped her with a quiet “no I wanna see.” Alex had been trying to keep her away from any news about aliens or the Luthors, but she couldn’t protect her from the truth forever.

Lena explained to a set of microphones, very professionally and calmly, that LCorp had come up with a way to use their proprietary technology to bring Supergirl back, she had no romantic relationship at all with the superhero, and she was just glad that the Supers could be reunited at last.

It hadn’t occurred to Kara until right then that her return to Kryptonian form would be huge news. As soon as it did, she felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. Clark had explained to her that they’d widely publicized her statue and its location, on the off-chance that one of the people who arrived to touch it was able to break the spell. Of course the statue’s disappearance would make waves, and of course somebody happened to be there with a camera to catch Lena Luthor and Superman having a standoff over her prone form. So of course Lena Luthor, CEO and public face of LCorp, had to make a statement about it.

It was much different from what she’d said to Kara, but she supposed that kind of made sense. Kara couldn’t imagine the media frenzy that would surround Supergirl with some kind of magical “soulmate,” let alone what people would do with the star-crossed Luthor-and-a-Super element.

Still, she felt kind of weird watching Lena seem exactly as casually convincing as she had while telling a completely different story.

After showing Lena’s statements, the news played shaky footage from what looked like someone’s phone camera. She ignored Alex’s worried glances when the footage started playing, and grabbed the remote so her sister couldn’t change the channel on her.

It didn’t show the bomb or the rocket or whatever Lena had been talking about earlier. The recording started with Lena standing next to her statue on the stone daiz, arms crossed, watching a visibly enraged Superman cooly and saying... something. The camera was far enough away that it wasn’t picking up their conversation. Kara was frustrated at that for all of a split second before realizing that it really was for the best that a recording of Clark saying her real name wasn’t on the nightly news.

She couldn’t see herself as a statue very clearly from the vantage point of the person recording, which was kind of a relief, because even the indistinct blur of grey behind the CEO put a funny taste in her mouth. There would be something profoundly unsettling about looking her stone self directly in the face.

She saw Clark give an enraged shout and superspeed at Lena. He collided with an invisible spherical bubble a few feet away from her with a flash of light, and the way the light rippled out and away across the bubble before dissipating on the other side was strangely beautiful. Lena flinched and took a half-step back, and that was enough to bring her hand in contact with the Kara-statue’s elbow. Her elbow turned blue, and Kara watched in fascination as a wave of form and color started there and spread rapidly outward across her entire body. Clark bashed against the shield again, his enraged bellow loud enough to be caught over the distance and the sound of the wind.

Kara watched herself finish her transformation and collapse limply against Lena. The woman jumped and staggered slightly, before hooking her arms under Kara’s back, bracing her feet, and visibly straining to hold her up.

Alex misread her small frown at the television. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe from her.”

Kara bit her lip, turning away from the screen to look at Alex. She knew how the rest of this encounter played out. “It’s not that, it’s - what she said - do you think that’s really what happened?”

Alex watched her carefully. “I doubt it’s the whole story,” she replied slowly, “but it seems like the truth.”

“I don’t-” Kara made a frustrated noise. “Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know.” Alex shrugged helplessly. “But whatever her reasons were, whatever nefarious plans she has, I’m glad she did, because it means I have you back.”

Kara swallowed against the sudden thickness in her throat and pulled her sister back into a hug. “I love you.” she murmured into the crown of her sisters hair. “When I first woke up I was so scared and I kept telling Clark to bring me to you, but he made me go to the fortress first.”

“Good.” Alex sniffed wetly. “He had to make sure you were okay.”

Kara smiled. “I knew you would say that.”

“Don’t ever leave me again, you hear?” Alex’s voice shook as she pressed closer against Kara.

Kara gave her an extra squeeze. “I would never.”

\---

The next day, Kal was over again and they were helping her adjust to changes in popular media since her disappearance (that sounded better than _turned into stone_ at least.) She wanted to ask him about what Lena had told her, but she couldn’t quite figure out how to do it without letting on that she had spoken to the woman directly. She _did_ ask about Zatanna, because she found it strange that everyone seemed more mad than worried whenever the name was mentioned. According to her Google search, the magician had appeared a few more times after casting the spell on Kara, and then was never seen again.

Clark gruffly said that she wasn’t a threat anymore, and absolutely refused to talk about it beyond that. There were a lot of things he wouldn’t talk about with her now.

They had kept all her things in storage, which she was grateful for, because it meant she didn’t have to try and sneak away for a shopping trip for her date with Lena that night. There was no way she could tell either of them about it. She was sure once she was able to help investigate and clear the CEO, they would be fine with them being friends. Or seeing each other, or whatever they were doing. But, until then, she was pretty sure they would go to drastic measures to keep Lena away from her.

She felt bad about lying to them, but as she waved goodbye to go to a “movie,” she couldn’t really bring herself to regret it.

She wore something nice, but casual. Anything too fancy would set off her sister’s alarms and she honestly wasn’t sure enough about fashion now to be comfortable getting herself dolled up. She hoped Lena hadn’t picked somewhere too fancy, although as she walked toward the LCorp building, she realized she probably should have asked.

Lena had met Kara, though, right? She’d know she needed to warn her if she was getting dressed up.

Right?

Oh Rao, what if Lena was one of those out-of-touch rich people who didn’t know how to eat at a regular place? She probably had maids wash her hair for her, or something. What if Kara ended up in a casual cardigan and pants at one of the nicest restaurants in National City?

She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to talk herself down from her panic as she wound between people on the sidewalk. She came to a stop in front of the ornate doors and realized she wasn’t sure if she was meant to go inside or wait for Lena to come out. She probably wouldn’t be able to get through building security by herself, but it seemed weird to just stand out in front of a corporate building and hope the CEO thought to check the sidewalk.

She checked her watch. 7:25. Okay, so she was a little early. She’d given Lena her number, but Lena hadn’t called or texted her, so it wasn’t like she could just send a text and tell the woman she was here.

She chewed on her lip for a minute before making a decision and ducking inside the building. She found the security desk and got the attention of a very sharply-dressed guard.

“Hi! I’m supposed to meet Miss Luthor at 7:30? I’m not sure if I should wait outside or in here or-”

The guard held up a finger, cutting her off. “What’s your name?”

It was kind of weird that Lena still didn’t know her last name. “Um, Kara?”

The guard nodded and waved towards a small waiting area. “Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll call up for you?” He rumbled. Kara awkwardly plopped down on the plush chair he indicated, trying not to look as uncomfortable as she felt. The lobby was quiet enough at this time of night, but the formal dress of the people still there made her feel out of place.

She adjusted her glasses and tried to quiet the nervous tapping of her foot. Lena was nice, and she seemed to like her, and she had nothing to worry about, right? Sure Clark and Alex thought she was evil, but Kara was sure she wasn’t and this was supposed to be low pressure anyway. Even if she didn’t like Kara _that_ way she would still want to be friends, right? Kara could use some friends. Especially ones that didn’t make her feel like she was drowning.

She was startled out of her reverie by the sharp click of heels approaching against the marble floor. Lena looked devastating, her makeup sharp and her soft hair down around her shoulders in waves. She was wearing a long coat that Kara imagined was probably hiding something much prettier underneath. If anything, the woman walking over looking like she’d stepped off a magazine cover should have made her more nervous, but one look at the friendly uptick at the corner of her mouth and Kara immediately felt better.

Lena stopped in front of her, eyes twinkling. “Kara, hi.”

Kara jumped up, twisting her hands in front of her. “Hi! Mi- um, Lena.” They were probably on a first-name basis, right?

Lena’s lips twitched. “Would you mind taking my car? The restaurant isn’t too far of a walk, but it’s usually best not to be seen leaving my office dressed so casually.”

Kara nodded. “Yeah, sure! That - that sounds great.”

Lena inclined her head in invitation and Kara followed her across the lobby to the elevator they’d taken the other day. Lena waved her hand over some contraption on the wall, and the elevator started to descend.

“So, no security guard today?” Kara asked, hoping to keep the silence from becoming awkward.

Lena smiled lazily, tilting her head. “If we run into any trouble, I suspect my date for the evening can hold her own.”

Kara giggled, warmth spreading up her chest. “Oh gosh, well, I hardly feel worthy of the honor. I mean, look at you you’re all pretty and I’m - I mean well I know, I’m y’know, her and all but I’ve never been really fashionable and -”

Lena leaned forward to stop her rambling with a hand on her forearm. “Breathe, darling. I think you look lovely.”

A casual endearment shouldn’t do things like that to her stomach. She looked down, hoping the heat in her cheeks wasn’t visible. “Thank you. I, um, ramble sometimes when I’m nervous.”

“I noticed.”

Lena sounded amused and friendly, and her hand was still warm on Kara’s arm, so she couldn’t bring herself to feel too embarrassed about it.

They reached what seemed to be some kind of private garage below the regular one, and Kara followed the CEO across the small room to a waiting towncar. Lena opened the back door and gestured for Kara to enter, and she quickly and clumsily scrambled into the seat and scooted over to make way for the other woman. Lena pulled off her coat to reveal a beautiful, understated green dress. It hugged her form beautifully without being immodest, and it perfectly matched the green of her eyes.

Kara stared with wide eyes as Lena elegantly folded herself into the limosine beside her. Her expression slid into a smirk as a few seconds passed by in silence.

Oh shoot, she was staring at her like a weirdo! “Oh gosh! Sorry, you’re just, you look really nice.” She twisted her hands together in her lap and looked away and wished, not for the first time, that her superpowers came with some kind of super-smoothness involved.

Lena chuckled melodiously and Kara’s stomach did that flip-flop thing again. “No need to apologize. I didn’t wear it for my driver.”

The idea of Lena dressing up to impress _her_ made her feel light and bubbly and she struggled not to sputter as her blush deepened. Why did she have to turn into such a _mess_ around this woman?

Lena winked at her and leaned forward to give the driver instructions. She slid back into her seat, and they were off.

Lena made small talk with her on the ride over. Kara would normally have been kinda bored talking about nothing, but Lena was pretty and she was leaning close to her in the backseat and Kara was just flushing and babbling and thoroughly enjoying herself.

They got to the restaurant in no time at all, and Kara’s eyes went wide when she awkwardly slid out of the towncar and took in the front of the building. Yeah, this place looked really nice.

Lena stepped forward to put a hand on Kara’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about the bill. I asked you out, I’m buying.”

Kara smiled at her nervously. “It’s not that, I just think I’m a little underdressed.”

Lena’s eyes scanned her up and down and Kara had to suppress the urge to squirm at the look on her face. She made very deliberate eye contact for a moment before murmuring “I think you look amazing.” She paused for moment and then turned away with a nonchalant shrug. “Besides, I own this restaurant. The dress code is whatever I say it is.”

“You...” Kara gaped at her. “You _own_ this restaurant?”

“We own a number of high-class establishments around the city. It’s a good investment.” Lena replied casually. She glanced back at Kara and her face stilled. “It was the easiest way to ensure we wouldn’t be disturbed. I understand this is unusual. If it makes you uncomfortable we can go somewhere else.”

Kara blinked. It was a little weird, if she was being honest. She could never afford to eat somewhere like this on her own. But the other woman’s careful expression felt like a mask and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt Lena’s feelings. “No, no, it’s not anything bad. I’ve just never known anyone who owned a whole restaurant before.”

“Oh?” Lena’s face lost its strange stillness and she raised an eyebrow. “Being a Super doesn’t put you in touch with the rich and powerful?”

“No, I-” Kara thought for a second. “Well as Supergirl I can’t go out and, um, do things you know? I don’t really use her to socialize.” She adjusted her glasses. “And as me, I’m just sort of a dorky nobody. I was never poor but, things like this” she gestured to the restaurant, “that’s brand new.”

“What an interesting thing to say.” Lena was watching her, head tilted. “But let’s get inside and get settled before I ask you about it.”

Kara wasn’t sure what was so fascinating about what she’d just said, but she went ahead and followed Lena inside to the Maitre’d. It was obvious Lena was recognized, because they didn’t even ask for a name before leading the two of them to a small private room at the back of the restaurant. Kara couldn’t help but crane her head around to stare at all the fancy trappings and the fancy tables with all the fancy people eating at them as they made their way through the restaurant. She’d never been anywhere this high-class in her _life._

“I can make a recommendation if you’d like.” Lena said lightly, once they’d been settled at their table with menus. Her erratic heartbeat betrayed her casual tone, and the idea of Lena being nervous about being out with _her_ was still throwing her for a loop. She should probably stop being so flabbergasted at everything and try to look like she was having a better time.

She met Lena’s eyes with a bright smile and deliberately ignored the resulting stutter in the other woman’s heartbeat. “That would be great, thanks!”

Lena pointed out a few items on the menu that Kara might like. After a bit of hemming and hawing and assurances that she shouldn’t worry about the cost at all and Lena would be positively _thrilled_ to treat her to it, she decided to order all of them.

The menu didn’t have prices, so she could pretend it wasn’t that extravagant if she didn’t think about it too hard.

“I imagine superheroics take up a lot of calories.” Lena commented after the waiter had taken their orders.

“Oh you have NO idea!” Kara gushed. “You should see the number of pizzas I can go through the day after a really big fight.”

Lena leaned forward on her elbows with a light smirk. “I can’t say I hate the idea of being there to help you refuel.”

Kara blushed and sputtered and Lena’s cheshire cat grin widened and Kara realized this was kind of starting to become their thing. She didn’t hate it.

“I - well - um,” She said, intelligently, grabbing for something to say. “Well my cousin and sister don’t want me to be Supergirl for a while so you might have to settle for a regular movie night.”

Lena drew a lazy circle on the tablecloth with one finger. “I can work with that.” She said playfully, before drawing her brows together.

“Your sister?” Kara heard the curious lilt in Lena’s voice and cringed. She hadn’t even thought about that. Alex would personally dig her grave if she knew she gave away that much information about her personal life to a Luthor. “I thought it was only you and Superman.”

Well the cat was out of the bag now and it wasn’t like she was going to be able to go for too long without giving any information away about her human identity. Lena could probably figure it out based on the information she already had, anyway. “No, I - my human sister. I was just a child when I arrived here and I was adopted by a human family.”

She probably shouldn’t say this next part, but it was a relatively common name so there couldn’t be that much harm, right? “She was the one I wanted to see right away, the other day. Alex.”

Lena’s eyes lit in understanding. “I was wondering about that. So you two are close then?”

Kara grinned. “She’s the best thing about this planet.”

“It must have been hard for her when you were away.”

“Yeah.” Kara frowned slightly at that. “I think I got the better end of the deal there. I don’t know what I’d do if the situations were reversed.”

Lena hmmed sympathetically, placing a hand on Kara’s. “Is that why she doesn’t want you to be Supergirl?”

“Yeah.” Kara shrugged. “She and Kal are being really overprotective. They don’t want me to do anything that could get me hurt. For a while.”

“You don’t sound happy about it.” Lena pulled back and folded her hands together on the table.

Kara grimaced. “I just don’t know how long ‘a while’ will be. Everything’s new and different and _Kal_ -” She took a breath. “Kal is different and it would be really nice to just get to go out and do the _one_ thing I know I’m good at. The one thing that probably hasn’t changed.”

“I can see that.” Lena mused. “It makes sense you’d want something familiar.” She paused. “Although I have to admit that I’m a little jealous that your equivalent of finding a Starbucks in Milan is breaking the sound barrier without an airplane.”

Kara laughed a little, sheepishly adjusting her glasses. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice. But more than that, most of everything normal I had is gone. What to do now is kinda hard to figure out and I don’t like feeling so... useless?”

“Now _that_ I can relate to.” Lena pointed a finger at her. “I’ve never been good at taking time off.”

Kara nodded. “Yeah. And I get why they’re so overprotective, I do, it’s just...”

“Kind of smothering?”

“Yes!” Kara waved a hand emphatically at Lena. “See? You get it.”

Lena shifted, eyes narrowing slightly. “And what does your very protective family think about you being here with me right now?”

Kara cleared her throat. “They, um, they don’t know?”

Lena pinned her with a look. “I have no desire to come between you and your family, Supergirl.”

“Kara.” Kara corrected, wrinkling her nose. “Just Kara. Supergirl isn’t really my name.”

Lena’s eyes brightened and she leaned forward. “Yes, you said something like that earlier. You said you don’t ‘use’ her socially. I thought that was an interesting turn of phrase.”

“Yeah, I -” Kara looked around the lavishly-decorated room, searching for the right words. “She’s like a costume? Or a disguise I use to keep my loved ones safe. She’s not really a person, you know?”

“So you don’t consider yourself to be Supergirl?” There was no accusation or judgement in her tone, just pure curiosity.

“I do... and I don’t. I mean she is me, she literally _is_ me, but she’s more of a - a symbol of what I can do. She doesn’t have a personality beyond truth, justice, hope, whatever. I’m the real person with friends and family and interests and dreams and a Netflix account.” Kara sat back a little. She probably wasn’t explaining this well at all. “I don’t know if that makes any sense.”

Lena mirrored her, sitting up a little straighter too, watching her thoughtfully. “It does. You don’t want to confuse yourself for the role you play.”

“Exactly!” Kara folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t know if it’s the same for Kal. We’ve never really talked about it.”

“Well,” Lena smiled at her. “How about this? I won’t call you Supergirl again unless you’re in costume, deal?”

Kara grinned back. “Deal.” She liked this woman. She really, really liked her. She was nice, and caring, and thoughtful, and she seemed to understand Kara in a way she wouldn’t have expected. There was no way she was evil like her brother. She just couldn’t be.

The waiters started bringing in their dishes, then, and the conversation turned to less serious topics. The food was really _really_ good. Kara would normally be self-conscious about how much and how fast she was eating, but Lena seemed to appreciate her enthusiasm more than anything else. The looks she gave her over the table made her feel warm and fluttery and a little bit liquid in her stomach, so soon enough she was happily digging in and beaming at Lena every time she interrupted to ask a question or talk some more about a particular dish.

Kara could have stayed there all night, but she couldn’t stay too long past the time her movie was supposed to end without arousing suspicion. Lena frowned at her when she said as much.

“I meant what I said earlier. I don’t want to cause any strife for you with your family.”

“You aren’t. It’s - they’re just really tense right now and they’ll come around eventually. Especially if I can convince them to get to know you a little better. They can’t be suspicious of you then!”

Lena flushed slightly, pushing a strand of hair behind one ear with a pleased smile. “That’s kind of you to say, but I already know Superman isn’t a fan of mine, and I don’t think he’s particularly likely to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

Kara bit her lip. This was touchy territory, but she really wanted to know, and Lena was a lot better about giving her straight answers than Clark. “What... happened with you two? He won’t talk to me about you at all.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “He’s convinced I’m planning to pick up where Lex left off. I don’t know why - I certainly haven’t given him any reason to think so.”

“You thought he might hurt you, that day at the park?” Kara asked cautiously.

“Yes.” Lena drawled. “He’s been beyond reason about certain things for a long time. One of them is my brother, and the other is you. He’s very ‘truth, justice, and the American way’ most of the time.” She huffed out a short sigh. “But I’d rather not be in his field of vision when those two points of unreasonability collide.”

“Has he -” Kara wasn’t sure she wanted to ask this, but she needed to know. “Has he hurt anyone?”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “Define ‘hurt.’”

Kara really didn’t like the sound of that.

Lena started absentmindedly straightening the silverware in front of her. “There’s my brother, of course, but he hardly counts. Otherwise, there have been some major injuries, some death threats. He hasn’t killed anyone else.” Lena paused. “That I’m aware of.”

“Major injuries?” Kara’s voice came out higher than she intended, but the idea of her baby cousin Kal-El hurting and scaring people was horrifying. She didn’t even want to think about Lena’s casual certainty that he had killed Lex.

“Broken limbs, back and neck injuries. Burns.” Lena listed them off like she was reading her grocery shopping. She softened at the expression on Kara’s face. “I _am_ sorry. I don’t mean to upset you.”

“No, no. You’re not upsetting me. I just - that’s not what we stand for.” That wasn’t the legacy of the great House of El. She frowned. “And people still see him as a hero?”

Lena shrugged. “Well, like I said, he’s a stalwart protector of the innocent most days. He’s calmed down a lot in recent years. He’s saved many more lives than he’s... hurt.”

“It’s not a score you can balance out!” Kara’s voice was starting to rise and she stopped and curled back in on herself, blushing. “I’m sorry. We - we don’t hurt people. Or at least we’re not supposed to.”

Lena inclined her head sympathetically, her voice soft. “I am sorry to be the bearer of such bad news, Kara.”

Her green eyes were sincere and her hair was falling around her face just so and Kara had to catch herself to not get lost in the allure. Then something awful dawned on her. “Wait, has he threatened _you?_ ”

Lena waved a hand dismissively in the air, looking off to the side of the room. “It’s nothing I’m not used to. He’s blinded by what Lex did. He’s not alone in that.”

“He has? _When?”_ Kara’s stomach clenched. Clark terrifying some faceless criminal was bad enough to think about, but to imagine him threatening the kind woman across from her was too much. She had to protect her. She had to make sure she felt safe.

The lines of Lena’s posture tensed almost imperceptibly. “The first night after I moved to National City, he landed on my balcony to let me know he was keeping an eye on me. He said he knew what I was up to, which I assume was in reference to something other than trying to atone for Lex’s sins,” she added sardonically, “and that I’d better not go anywhere near your statue. He was emphatic about what kinds of consequences there would be.” She took a sip from her wine glass, not meeting Kara’s eyes. “And I didn’t - not until the other day.”

“Because of the rocket or whatever?”

“Yes. My instruments picked it up without much time to spare. Needless to say, I had neither any way to get in touch with Superman nor the time to figure it out. So I hopped in a transmatter portal and shielded you myself. I knew he wouldn’t like it. The admittedly limited plan was to hop right back out of there before he arrived.”

She was speaking very casually, but Kara heard the truth beneath the unaffected tone. Lena had risked her safety to save her, someone she had never even met. “Thank you.” She leaned forward, resting her hand on Lena’s arm and trying to infuse as much of her gratitude into her tone as possible. “Not everyone would have done that.”

A corner of Lena’s mouth ticked up and she slowly met Kara’s eyes. “Thank _you_ for being nothing like your cousin.”

Kara just beamed at her, gratified when she got a small smile in response.

They sat there for a moment, and then Lena cleared her throat, looking away again. “You said you had to get going, I hope I’m not keeping you.”

“Oh shoot!” Kara looked down at her phone. She could play it off like she just wanted to go for a walk afterwards. Hopefully Alex would get off her back soon. “Yeah, I really need to go, unfortunately.”

Lena stood up with a fluid, practiced grace. “Well I had a wonderful time. Maybe we can do this again?”

Kara bounded up after her, the chair scraping loudly against the floor as she bounced up on one foot. “Oh, um, yes! Yep. I’d love to!”

Lena’s eyes twinkled like Kara’s two left feet were cute rather than utterly humiliating. “I’d say we should try one of those movie nights you mentioned, but I wouldn’t want to get too ahead of myself. How about we settle for lunch sometime next week? My treat.”

“Pfft, you don’t have to pay every time.” Kara protested.

“I really don’t mind,” Lena almost seemed amused by the resistance, “but if it bothers you we can always split the bill.”

“Okay!” Kara wasn’t sure she’d say it _bothered_ her, really, she just didn’t want Lena to think she was using her for free lasagna, or something. That was just rude.

She followed Lena back out of the restaurant and into the waiting car. Kara assumed Lena must have called for it somehow, but she didn’t discount the idea that it just hadn’t moved at all after dropping them off. Lena seemed like the kind of person who had enough sway to monopolize a whole block of city sidewalk for two hours on a whim.

“Would you just like to go back to the office or is there somewhere more convenient I can take you?”

“Umm. The office is probably fine?” She looked at Lena apologetically. “I’m sorry, my sister would just about have a heart attack and die if she saw you dropping me off.”

Lena inclined her head in acknowledgement. “Well, we wouldn’t want that.” She turned to the front of the car. “To the office then, Frank.”

By the time Kara was dropped off on the sidewalk outside of LCorp, she’d secured a promise from Lena to text her to set up lunch next week. She should have just gotten her number, she thought, as she headed for home, so she wouldn’t have to wait around, but the notification of a text from an unknown number popped up not two minutes after she started walking.

**Unknown Number [9:54]:** Hello, Kara. This is Lena Luthor.

 **Kara [9:54]:** Lena! Hi! I’m so glad you texted!

 **Lena [9:55]:** We saw each other minutes ago.

 **Kara [9:55]:** Yes but now I have your number so I can text you about things like lunch and stuff!

 **Lena [9:57]:** I’m glad to see your enthusiasm remains infectious over text.

 **Kara [9:57]:** :D

She was still grinning when she opened the door to Alex’s apartment.

“Kara!” She jumped slightly as Alex launched herself off the couch closest to the door. “How are you? You’re okay?” She grabbed Kara by the shoulders and looked her over. “How was your movie?”

“Alex, I’m _fine._ It was just a movie.” She tried not to sound as exasperated as she felt, but she was never very good at hiding her feelings.

Alex ran a hand over Kara’s hair, obviously inspecting her for damage. “Yeah but you’re not just any sister.” She caught the look on Kara’s face and stepped back with a sheepish grimace. “And I’m hovering. I know, I know it must be driving you crazy. But I only just got you back. I can’t help but be terrified of losing you again.”

Kara sighed. She couldn’t stay angry when Alex was wearing that look on her face. Here she was lying to her sister and then getting all mad at her for being worried. She tucked her phone into her pocket and grabbed Alex’s hand. “I know. And I _love_ you for caring about me so much. But you can’t watch me forever.”

Alex nodded, looking down, before bringing her free hand up to squint through a tiny bit of space between her thumb and her forefinger. “But maybe for just a _liiiittle_ while?”

Kara rolled her eyes and reached out to pull her into a tight hug. “For just a little while.” She acquiesced, feeling her sister relax against her.


End file.
